Page 77 of Rachel’s Pudding Pantry

‘Ah, that’s good. You’ve acted fast and done the right things for him.’

Thanks to Tom, Rachel thought, feeling guilty that it could have been so much worse.

‘Okay, so we’ll keep him here just now, keep a close eye on him and see how he reacts. Give it a few hours, and I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to come home either early this evening or in the morning.’

‘Will he recover okay? What about his leg?’ Rachel was worried there might be long-term damage.

‘Most dogs recover fully in around five days, so no, no long-term damage is likely. He looks a fit and healthy dog otherwise, so that’ll go in his favour.’

‘Thank you.’

‘You’re welcome. Give us a call at, say, five o’clock and we’ll let you know how he’s getting on.’

‘Will do.’

They headed back, Rachel feeling slightly shaken, even though the worst seemed over. She was quiet in the passenger seat of the jeep.

‘He’ll be okay, you know,’ Tom said reassuringly.

‘I just feel dreadful that I hadn’t seen it.’

‘It would have been easy to miss, Rachel. It’s been a bit of a shock for you too, I bet. Do you want to come in for a coffee?’ They were nearly back at Tom’s farm, where she’d left the quad.

‘Yes, that’d be good, thanks. I’ll give Mum a quick ring first and explain what’s been happening. She’ll be wondering where on earth I’ve disappeared to.’ And Rachel knew all too well that that in itself would bring back bad memories.

Sat in Tom’s kitchen, with mugs of steaming coffee, they chatted for a while. She’d been in the kitchen as a girl, but it was far more modern now with light-oak units and chrome fittings. Rachel remembered being invited here for summer barbecues along with other families from the farming community, sat outside in the garden on straw bales for seats, helping herself to hotdogs and Coca-Cola, watching the teenage Tom whizz around the farmyard on his quad, and there were Christmas-time drinks right here in the cosy farmhouse kitchen served with mince pies, chocolate cake and cocoa for the children.

‘Well, at least it seems like he’s going to be okay,’ said Rachel, starting to relax knowing that Moss was being taken care of. ‘So, which dog of yours was bitten?’ she continued.

‘Ah, it was a while back. It was Caitlin’s dog, actually. A spaniel. He ended up with a nasty lesion on his side. We hadn’t seen it straight away, he just seemed a bit off. So it had taken a bit of a hold by the time we got him to the vets and realised what it was, and then the wound got infected. He pulled through okay, but it left a scar … It was yet another reason for her to hate the countryside.’

Caitlin was Tom’s ex-wife. From what Rachel had heard in the past, it sounded as though things had become difficult between them, though Tom had never talked with Rachel directly about his relationship before.

‘Country life didn’t suit her,’ Tom said, beginning to open up. ‘She’d been brought up in Edinburgh, was a city girl at heart. We thought our love could counter that, getting married, but it wasn’t enough in the long term. She grew to resent this life, me … farming’s not a job you can just leave behind at five o’clock and weekends, is it?’

‘Nope, no way.’

‘And I didn’t want to leave it, or my life here, though I did try early on. It’s just a part of who I am … Anyway, I’m not sure why I’m telling you all this … It’s all over and done with now.’

‘It’s all right, I don’t mind you talking.’ Rachel was the queen of disastrous relationships, who was she to judge? And it was nice that Tom felt he could be honest with her. She’d always had the impression that Tom was quite a closed book, a little guarded with his emotions, and he generally kept his home life private.

‘Ah, don’t want to bore you with it all. So, how’s it all going at the Pudding Pantry?’ He swiftly changed the subject.

They sat chatting for a while longer, then Rachel said she’d better go and get back to the farm and Maisy.

‘Let me know, when you hear how Moss has got on.’

‘Of course. Will do. Thanks again, Tom.’

They were poised on the front step. Their eyes held each other’s for a few seconds, and Rachel felt some instinctive pull not to leave.

‘Hey,’ he pulled her into his arms and gave her a hug. It had been a bit of an emotional day with the dog, and he realised that. It was lovely to be so close, and she felt safe and warm there in his arms, and then … a little bit sensual. She knew all too well now what lay beneath that shirt, and it was like all her nerve endings had woken up and were on high alert.

Rachel looked up, her face tilting ever so slightly towards his. She could see the short dark stubble on his chin, was almost close enough to feel it in fact, just a shift of her lips and that would be it. A second more and she would know what it felt like to kiss Tom Watson.

What would a kiss mean? Where would it lead?

She stepped back just in time, feeling so out of kilter. ‘Right, okay, I’d better go. Thanks so much again.’

To the quad, keys in, pedal down, into gear, and then go, go, go.